By Sylvester Renner | President & Founder of Develop Africa
Thanks to the generosity of donors like YOU, we’ve successfully shipped 100,000 pencils and 10,000 sharpeners to students across Sierra Leone!
This milestone is part of our Year of the Pencil campaign, a movement dedicated to equipping thousands of children with the tools they need to learn, dream, and thrive. But this story isn’t just about numbers — it’s about the deeper meaning behind every pencil and sharpener we send.
When planning the shipment, we realized an important truth:
A pencil without a sharpener can’t fulfill its purpose.
A pencil represents potential.
A sharpener represents sustainability.
Together, they represent opportunity.
Every pencil pouch we distribute is more than a school supply — it’s a symbol of hope, preparation, and progress. Each one empowers a child to keep writing, solving problems, and chasing their dreams long after the first pencil point breaks.
This milestone also brings us one step closer to our historic goal: distributing all 100,000 pencils to 10,000 children in a single day on November 20th — World Children’s Day.
Your generosity makes moments like this possible. You’re not just giving supplies — you’re investing in futures, building confidence, and proving that when we think one step ahead, learning never stops.
Thank you for standing with us and being part of this journey. Together, we’re writing a brighter future — one pencil (and sharpener) at a time.
Warmest regards,
Sylvester Renner, President & Founder, Develop Africa.
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By Amy Baty-Herbert | Project Leader
By Amy Baty-Herbert | Project Leader
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